OOOOooo!!! Shiny Wheels!
 

I know I am stupid for asking a question such as this but what would be bad if I sanded off the paint on my stock rims to make them a shiny aluminum??? Perhaps buffing them even? Would I have to do them one at a time and take them off so as not to get any crap on the rotors? Is sanding off the paint going to damage anything? I really wanted to buy some neat-o shiny rims but with the recent tranny replacement I'll be working just to make the rent.

>>...what would be bad...<<

They wouldn't be stock anymore. Just me.
-joe-

Re: OOOOooo!!! Shiny Wheels!
 

Would they rust? I don't know. Maybe clear coat them in the end.

They won't rust, but it would look bad....
 

My rims are probably the ugliest things I have ever seen. I hate them. 80% of the paint is off them, however they will not become shiny. They don't rust at all, it's just aluminum, and I have never seem alum wheels rust before. However it isn't the bright alum you would think it is. It is this dull dark grey. Maybe just years of brake dust, but they are awful.

One thing to keep in mind though, be careful with sandpaper. I would hate to see how many swirlmarks you would get in them. They wouldn't exactly look good like that.

Here is my recommendation. Buy a $5 big bottle of Castrol superclean. Do not buy the wheel cleaner, buy the strong stuff. It says don't use on rims as it will eat right through the paint/clearcoat on them. Spray a TON of it on there (I used nearly half a bottle) let it sit, then rub with a rag. Once this is done, most of the paint will be off (except the really stuck stuff). Take your car to a hand wash pressure washer place. Spray them again, let them sit for about 5 min, then pressure spray it with tire spray setting. Then spray them off with the power rinse. They will all clean and the pain/clearcoat will be gone.

Remember they will still look like crap. I would recommend taking them to professionally polished.... However then you are talking about new rim cost if they do it right.

Ryan

Re: OOOooo!!! Shiny Wheels!
 

What about repainting. I had this link in my old email files. It has step by step instructions for striping and repainting rims. Check it out.

http://www.homestead.com/jbrinkerhoff/wheel.html

Awesome...good howto...
 

Maybe I will give that a shot. Sounds like a lot of work...but at the same token, I have a few other modes of transport I could use in the meantime. Very impressed though.

Ryan

AFAIK almost all aluminum wheels are painted silver and clear-coated. If you take the clear-coat & paint off, I think you will be very unhappy with the results. I think you only have 3 real options for better-looking wheels: 1) have them stripped and re-painted by a shop that knows what they're doing, 2) have them chromed (which personally, I don't think would look good at all), or 3) save up for a nice set of after-market wheels....

Just in case you were wondering:
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...nscouse/54.jpg

hmmmm I'm still on the fence... maybe because chroming them makes them look like they're a smaller diameter?

Hehe
 

I still think the stock wheels are just plain ugly to begin with. Sorry guys that like them, they are just not that nice. I personally think Subaru did a wonderful job on the factory Legacy GT wheel (98-99 kind of years).

Maybe I will take the set I bought for my Sunfire, and put them on my SVX. Only downside is they are only 205's vs. the 225's on my SVX now. Hmm...ugly or more traction...ugly or more traction....

Ryan

Re: Hehe
 

Ooooo. Them's almost "fightin' words" to us purists. :D However, the wheels were not only designed to "look good." The unidirectional design was created to cool the rotors.

Re: Re: Hehe
 

Haha sorry. :D

Fans maybe, but I like wheels that show off the discs. I can't see the fan shape being more cooling that wheels that have a lot more open exposure to the disc. Unless they have found a way to force air in, and allow for hot air to escape, I doubt they do much but make my car look uglier. ;)

jk had to throw that in to bug ya. Staying up too late has put me in a weird mood today...please forgive. :D

Ryan

Re: Re: Re: Hehe
 

You're forgiven. I'm in "one of those moods" today too. To bed at 2 -- up at 6 -- massive work overload -- not happy -- asked co-workers if they had any arsenic I could borrow. YUK!

wheels..
 

I looked into getting my extra set of stock rims refinished. It was going to ccst me close to $400. I have decided ot wait for when I get the whole car repainted. Then I will get the rims painted to match. Perhaps you might want ot consider painting yours to match the color of your car.

My $.02
Chris

Re: Re: Re: Re: Hehe
 

Hehe sounds like me, although I got up at 7 this morning. Unfortunately I have a bunch of angry developers on my butt asking for software. Too bad SUN couldn't read the email I sent for licenses for some reason. :(

Now I'm even more behind.

Ryan